Method of making shoes



Feb. 2, 1937.

C. D. TURNER METHOD OF MAKING SHOES Filed March 26, 1934 Fig. 4

3 Sheets-Sheet l Feb. 2, 1937. c. D. TURNER METHOD OF MAKING SHOES Filed March 26, 1934 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 AVE/v M Feb. 2, 1937. c, Q 2,069,396

METHOD OF MAKING SHOES Filed March 26, 1954 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 WvE/v 717/3;

IMK\M MS 5) Fig.15

Patented Feb 2, 1937 UNli'ED STATES 2&59395 PATENT @FFEQE METHOD OF MAKING SHOES Application March 26,

19 Claims.

This invention relates to methods of making shoes and methods: of making outsoles and to improvements in outsoles as articles of manufacture. The invention is illustrated herein with 5 special reference to its appplication to the manufacture of shoes having pro-finished cement-attached outsoles the marginal portions of which lie close to the uppers and have what are commonly known as square edges, i. e., edge faces the transverse elements of which are so disposed as to be substantially vertical when the shoes are in their normal upright positions.

In order to adapt the margin of an outsole to lie close to the upper of a shoe and also to iacilitate the relative locating of the outsole and the shoe preparatory to the cement attachment of the outsole, the outsole is prepared or prefitted, as herein exemplified, by more or less abruptly bending or molding its marginal portion 20 toward the side ultimately to be attached to the shoe (or alternatively by recessing or grooving the marginal portion of the outsole) so as to provide at the attaching side of the sole a surface, extending peripherally of the sole edge, which is concave in directions transverse to the sole edge and which is adapted for conforming engagement with the transversely convex marginal surface of the upper where the latter is secured in overlasted relation to the shoe bottom. As also exemplified herein provision is made for overbending or ov-ermolding the marginal portion of the outsole in order further to facilitate the desired close fitting of the sole edge to the upper and to insure that, in the operation of cement-attaching the sole to the shoe, the sole shall engage the shoe bottom first along the extreme edge only of the sole so that the area of contact between the sole and the shoe bottom shall progress inwardly to prevent un- 40 desirable squeeze-out of cement over the sole edge and upon the exposed portions of the upper. The bending or molding of the sole margin causes the sole edge to fiare outwardly from the attaching side of the sole and, as herein shown, the edge of the sole is trimmed, after the molding of its marginal portion and prior to the attachment oi the sole, to relieve this outward flareior the dual purpose of improving the appearance of the sole edge in the finished shoe and facilitating the relative positioning of the sole and the shoe preparatory to the attachment of the sole.

In cases where the marginal portion of the sole is overmolded as above described, the over 1934, Serial No. 717,343

(C1. Ji -142) molded portion is necessarily somewhat flattened or distorted when pressed against the bottom of the shoe and of course such distortion of the sole margin results in changing somewhat the angle of the sole edge. As herein illustrated, allowance is made for such a change in the angle of the sole edge as that just referred to, by trimming or beveling the sole edge, preferably, although not necessarily, after the molding of the sole margin, but in either case prior to attachment of the sole, at such an angle that after the sole has been attached and its marginal portion has been distorted as above described, the transverse elements of its edge face will be so disposed as to be vertical when the shoe is in a normal upright position and thus the square edge effect above referred to will be obtained. It is to be recognized, therefore, that such beveling of the edge of an outsole as a pre-fitting or pro-finishing operation constitutes, per se, a novel aspect of the invention.

Considered in another aspect, the invention is concerned with the finishing of the edges of premolded or pre-fitted outsoles while the outsoles are still unattached. As herein exemplified an outsole, after having had its marginal portion molded or grooved to adapt it to fit close to the upper of a shoe, is subjected to edge staining and edge setting operations, (and, if desired, edge wheeling operations) as a result of which the edge of the outsole is pre-finished to such an extent that after attachment there are no further edge finishing operations to be performed. By thus pre-edge-finishing soles which have also been pro-fitted or otherwise prepared to adapt their margins to lie close to the uppers, it becomes practicable to finish the sole edges more effectively than would be possible after attachment of the soles to the shoes and without risk of staining, cutting, or otherwise damaging the shoe uppers.

Invention is to be recognized as residing also in an article of manufacture consisting of an unattached outsole embodying in its marginal portion various novel features hereinafter described and claimed which result from the practice of my improved method-0f making outsoles.

The invention will now be more particularly described by reference to the accompanying drawings and thereafter pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings,

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of an outsole as it appears before its marginal portion is molded or otherwise operated upon to adapt it to fit close to the upper of a shoe;

Fig. 2 illustrates the progressive molding or bending of the marginal portion of an outsole for the purpose of forming in its attaching side a transversely concave peripherally extending surface for conforming engagement with the bottom of a shoe;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary perspective view of an outsole as it appears after its margin has been bent or molded;

Fig. 4 illustrates the operation of trimming and chamfering the edge of an outsole the marginal portion of which has previously been bent or molded;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary perspective view of an outsole as it appears after its edge has been trimmed and chamfered;

Fig. 6 illustrates the operation of inking or staining the trimmed edge of the outsole;

Fig. 7 illustrates the operation of setting or burnishing the outsole edge;

Fig. 8 is a perspective view of an outsole as it appears after its edge has been pie-finished and its shank portion has been molded, this view illustrating also the operation of softening or activating the marginal coating of cement on the attaching surface of the sole;

Fig. 9 is a cross-sectional View showing the relative positions of a pre-finished outsole and a shoe in a sole-attaching press and illustrating the manner in which the relative positions of the sole and the shoe are gaged from the trimmed edge of the sole;

Fig. 10 is a cross-sectional view of the lasted shoe shown in Fig. 9, illustrating its appearance after the outsole has been attached;

Fig. 11 illustrates an alternative method of forming a transversely-concave peripherallyextending surface at the attaching side of an outsole;

Fig. 12 illustrates the operation of roughing the peripherally-extending outsole surface shown in Fig. 11;

Fig. 13 is a perspective view illustrating the operation of wheeling or indenting the chamfered portion of the sole edge;

Fig. 14 is a cross-sectional view showing the relative positions of a lasted shoe and a prefinished outsole of the type shown in Figs. 11 and 12 as the shoe and the outsole are disposed in their sole-attaching press prior to the application of the sole-attaching pressure; and

Fig. 15 is a cross-sectional view of the shoe and outsole shown in Fig. 14 illustrating their appearance after attachment of the outsole.

Before being operated upon in accordance with the method exemplified in Figs. 2 to 1G, inclusive, of the drawings, the outsole 20, as shown in Fig. l, is cut substantially to final edge contour and is prepared in a well-known manner for cement attachment to a shoe by having the opposite sides of its shank portion skived to reduce the thickness of the sole edge in those locations and by having the marginal portion of its flesh or attaching side roughened, as shown at 22, and coated with cement, for example pyroxylin cement, which is allowed to dry and is later activated by means of a solvent, the dry coating or band of cement being indicated at 24.

After such preparation of the outsole its marginal portion, for the purpose of this invention, is bent or molded toward its flesh side, i. e., the side which is ultimately to be attached to the application of J. E. Reid. For the purpose in view the machine is provided with upper and lower cooperating driven rolls 26 and 28 which clamp the marginal portion of the sole between them and act both to feed the sole and to bend its margin progressively, an edge gage 36 being provided to determine the proper position of the sole during the progressive bending or molding operation.

The rolls, as illustrated, are preferably smooth to avoid injury to the surface of the sole and they are so shaped as to localize the bending on the marginal portion of the sole and yet to impart to the sole margin a transverse curvature which merges gradually with the contour of portions of the sole located further inwardly. As illustrated, this bending or molding operation is performed along the opposite sides of the shank as well as around the forepart of the sole, although, if desired, it may be confined to the forepart only. Preferably and as illustrated the rolls 26 and 28 are so shaped as to overbend or overmold 1 the margin of the sole, that is, to impart thereto a transverse curvature somewhat more pronounced than that of the upwardly curving portions of the shoe upper which the margin of the sole is to engage, thereby further to facilitate the positioning of the sole edge close to the upper as well as to insure against undesirable squeezeout of cement in attaching the outsole, as will be hereinafter more fully explained. After the above-described molding operation has been performed the outsole appears as shown in Fig. 3.

It will be observed that, as a result of the molding of the sole margin, the edge face of the sole is caused to flare outwardly from the attaching side of the sole a substantial amount as indicated at 32. In most shoes, however, it is undesirable to have the edges of the outsole flare outwardly in this manner, in fact, it is often considered highly desirable to provide what is commonly known as a square edge upon the outsole, that is, to have the vertical elements of the sole edge so disposed as to be substantially vertical when the shoe occupies its normal upright position. Accordingly, for the purposes of the present invention, provision is made for relieving the outward flare of the edge of the outsole. As illustrated, the operation of relieving the flare of the outsole edge is accomplished by subjecting the outsole to an edge trimming operation which results in reshaping the sole edge so as to improve its appearance in the finished shoe and which also insures greater uniformity in the relation of the sole edge to the upper in different shoes for reasons which will be explained hereinafter. This reshaping of the sole edge is ac-- tually a beveling of the sole edge, the angle of bevel being such that the edge will be substantially square after the sole margin has been bent or molded as above described. While herein disclosed as taking place after the bending operation, the edge trimming or beveling operation might be performed before the sole margin is bent or molded.

The pre-trimming of the edge of the outsole may conveniently be performed by a machine such as that shown in Fig. 4, the machine comprising a cutter head 36 secured to one end of a shaft 38 that is journaled in horizontal bearings, one of which is indicated at 463, and is adapted to be driven at high speed by means of a pulley (not shown). The cutter head St is provided with a series of peripheral teeth 42 each having a cutting edge 4- 1 for trimming the edge of the sole. The machine is further provided with a stationary work rest 46 having a vertically disposed smooth surface 58 against which the tread face of the outsole is held by the operator as the sole is manually fed to advance its margin past the cutter head and thus to insure that the edge of the sole will be trimmed at a predetermined angle to its tread face.

Because of the above described overmolding of the margin of the outsole the sole margin will be somewhat distorted or reshaped when made to conform to the curved contour of the upper by the pressure applied to the sole in the operation of attaching it to the shoe. In other words, the outsole-attaching pressure will cause the overmolded sole margin to become somewhat flattened so that its transverse curvature will be less pronounced. Accordingly, instead of trimming the sole edge so that its transverse elements will be exactly perpendicular to the tread face of the sole, the sole edge, for the purpose of the present invention, is trimmed at a slight angle to the perpendicular such that it will still slope outwardly a slight amount from the attaching side of the sole, this slight slope allowing for the abovementioned distortion or reshaping of the sole margin and insuring that after attachment of the sole the transverse elements of the edge face shall be truly square or perpendicular, or, in other words, shall be vertically disposed when the shoe is in a normal upright position. To the accomplishment of this result the cutting edges 4 1 are inclined at a slight angle to the axis of the cutter shaft 38, as clearly shown in Fig. 4, so as to produce a trimmed edge face 53 having a slight outward flare from the attaching side of the sole (see also Fig. 5). Preferably and as shown each tooth of the cutter head 35 is provided also with a cutting edge 52 which is perpendicular to the axis of the shaft 38 and which serves to chamfer the sharp edge or corner at the flesh or attaching side of the sole and thus to trim on any shreds or fibers of leather which may extend from that edge as a result of the roughing operation. This chamfering operation results in the formation of a narrow chamfered face 53 (Fig. 5) which is substantially perpendicular to the trimmed edge face 56 and which insures the production of a cleanly cut upper edge corner in the outsole of the finished shoe.

Because of the fact that the edge of the outsole is to fit close to the upper it would be difficult if not entirely impracticable to perform the usual finishing operations upon the edge of the sole after attachment of the sole to the shoe. These finishing operations comprise blacking or staining the sole edge and setting the edge face and often they include also waxing and buffing 0r polishing the sole edge. To facilitate the performance of the sole edge finishing operations and to avoid any risk of staining or damaging the upper, the present invention contemplates the performance of all the desired sole edge finishing operations upon the outsole while the outsole is still unattached. I have illustrated the performance of the edge inking or staining operation in Fig. 6 and the performance of the edge setting operation in Fig. 7. As shown, the edge inking or staining operation may be advantageously performed by means of a roller 54 having trunnions 56 mounted to turn in the side walls of a reservoir 58 containing a fluid stain 60 in which the roll 54 is arranged to dip. The operation may be effectively accomplished by manually drawing the edge of the outsole over the periphery of the roll 54. The edge setting operation may conveniently be efiected by means of a machine such as that disclosed in Fig. 7. The edge setting machine comprises a rotary edge setting tool M which is secured to one end of a power-driven horizontal shaft 66 arranged to turn in a suitable bearing 68. The illustrated tool 64 is provided with a multiplicity of smooth peripheral faces 70 separated by means of notches'l2 and the tool is adapted to be heated by means of a gas burner M which surrounds the shaft 66 at one side of the tool. For the purpose of supporting an unattached sole in such position that its slightly inclined edge face will be properly presented to the action of the tool 64, a work rest 16 is provided against which the sole may be held while it is manipulated by the operator to advance its mar gin progressively past the tool, the work rest being set at the proper inclination to insure that the trimmed edge of the sole will be presented squarely to the action of the setting tool. The edge of the outsole may be coated with wax before being acted upon by the edge setting tool 64. The rapidly rotating tool smooths and polishes or burnishes the edge face operating in a well-known manner to produce a hard and lasting finish. If desired, the periphery of the teeth of the edge setting tool may be shaped to produce a desired contoured profile in the sole edge.

The edge face of the sole having been completely finished the sole may be molded by the use of a sole molding machine of known construction so as to impart to the shank portion of the sole a desired longitudinal and transverse curvature corresponding to that of the bottom of the shoe to which the sole is to be attached. Fig. 8 illustrates the appearance of an outsole after its shank portion has been molded as just described. The marginal band 24 of dry cement is next softened or activated by means of a suitable solvent. There may be employed for this purpose a viscous solvent, such as that described in the application of W. H. Wedger, Serial No. 583,773, filed December 29, 1931. Solvent of this character may be applied by means of a machine of the general type of that disclosed in the application of J. W. Johnson, Serial No. 692,043, filed October 3, 1933. A solvent applying machine of that type is provided with a series of small tubes through which the viscous solvent is extruded in thread-like form, the tubes being arranged to lay the threads of solvent along the marginal band of cement in closely spaced relation as the sole is fed to advance its margin past the tubes. This operation is conveniently illustrated in Fig. 8 wherein the solvent-applying tubes are shown at 18 and the threads of solvent which have been extruded from these tubes and deposited upon the cemented sole margin are indicated at 86.

The outsole is now ready to be attached to a shoe. Attachment of the sole may be effected by means of a cement sole-attaching machine of the type disclosed in the application of M. H. Ballard et al., Serial No. 636,202, filed October 4, 1932. A sole-attaching machine of this type comprises a plurality of press units each of which, as shown in Fig. 9, comprises a pad box 82 containing an hydraulic shoeand sole-receiving pad 84, and shoe-engaging means including a toe rest 86 which is adapted to be moved toward the pad to press the shoe against the pad so that the outsole will be forced against the shoe bottom under heavy pressure. Associated with each pad box in this machine is means for relatively locating a shoe and a sole prior to the application of the sole-attaching pressure, this means comprising, as shown in Fig. 9, forepart-engaging feelers 88 which, in the operation of the machine, are movable inwardly toward the opposite lateral edges of the outsole on the pad before a shoe has been placed upon the outsole so as to find the outsole in the position in which it was placed by the operator. These feelers are locked in sole-engaging positions and they carry gages 90 for locating the shoe with respect to the outsole.

The shoe to which the outsole is to be attached may be first prepared for such attachment by having the applied cement upon its overlasted upper margins activated by the application of a suitable solvent thereto, or it may be found practicable to rely upon the solvent 80 upon the outsole for activating the cement upon the shoe bottom. After a lasted shoe, such as the shoe S, has been placed upon the outsole and has been located at its forepart relatively to the outsole by means of the gages 99 carried by the feelers 88, the shoe-engaging devices including the toe rest 86, are positioned over the shoe and are operated to press the shoe against the pad, thereby causing the marginal portions of the outsole to be pressed firmly against the overlasted margins of the upper. Prior to the application of pressure to the shoe, the shoe and the outsole will be relatively positioned as indicated in Fig. 9, the outer portions of the overlasted upper margins resting upon the extreme edges of the upwardly molded outsole margins. Consequently, when the soleattaching pressure is applied the line of contact between the shoe upper and the outsole will move progressively inward from the edge of the outsole, at least for a sufficient distance to insure against any desirable squeeze-out of solvent and softened cement, thereby insuring against defacement of the sole edge and adjacent exposed portions of the shoe upper by the cement and solvent. Moreover, the fact that the outsole margin has been overmolded insures actual contact of the edge of the outsole with the upper all the way around the shoe. Of course, the molding of the sole edge also provides for such intimate engagement of the outsole and upper throughout the full width of the cemented marginal portions of these parts as to insure the perfect bonding together of the parts by the cement.

After the attachment of the outsole 20 the shoe appears as shown in Fig. 10 wherein the upper is shown at 92 and the insole at 94. It will be noted that the molded margin of the outsole has been flattened by the sole-attaching pressure sufficiently to insure absolute conformity of the sole margin to the transverse curves of the shoe upper. This slight reforming or reshaping of the transverse curvature of the outsole margin results in changing the angle of the edge face of the outsole so that the transverse elements of that face, instead of still being slightly inclined to the perpendicular (as shown at 50 in Figs. 5 and 9) will be readjusted so that they will now be actually perpendicular or vertical, as shown at 58 in Fig. 10. It will be seen by reference to this figure that not only is the outsole margin finally disposed in the desired close-fitting relation to the upper but also the amount of sole edge projection is practically limited to an amount corresponding to the width of the chamfered face 53, a condition which is highly desirable in shoes having close-fitting soles.

In the use of a cement sole-attaching machine having attaching pads, such as the pad shown in Fig. 9, shallow recesses gradually become formed in the upper surfaces of the pads where they are repeatedly engaged by the outsoles. It is to be noted that as a result of the upward bending or molding of the outsole margins in accordance with the present invention, after an outsole has been placed upon a pad its upwardly offset edge faces are necessarily positioned in the paths of inward movement of the feelers 88, a condition which absolutely insures that the feelers shall engage the sole edge as they move inwardly, even if the sole has a particularly thin edge, and that the gages 90 shall be properly positioned for locating the shoe relatively to the outsole. The fact that the molding of the sole margins and the trimming and finishing of the edges of the soles have been accomplished before the soles are positioned relatively to the shoes insures uniformity in the appearance of the sole edges and of the joints between the soles and the upper in different shoes, since no trimming or finishing of the sole edges is done, after attachment of the soles, such as will tend to produce results which would be likely to vary more or less in different shoes and which would be particularly noticeable on account of the close fitting of the sole edges and the lack of any substantial amount of sole edge projection. Moreover, inasmuch as the sole edge is substantially square or perpendicular to the tread face of the sole, it will constitute a positive unyielding stop to limit the operative inward movements of the feelers 88 and thus to insure accuracy in relatively loeating the outsole and the sole in the sole attaching press, such accuracy as could not be insured if the sole edge had any substantial amount of flare, in which case the feelers would tend to ride over the flaring edge or, if they engaged the sharply defined lower corner of the edge face, to compress the sole material more or less so that uniformity of operations upon different shoes. could not be obtained.

Figs. 11 to 14, inclusive, are illustrative of an alternative method of preparing an outsole to provide for close fitting of the sole edge and the upper in the finished shoe. In the practice of this alternative method the margin of an outsole is operated upon so as to produce in the marginal portion of its attaching surface a transverse concavity substantially complemental to the transverse convexity of the margin of the shoe bottom without any bending or molding of the sole edge, this method being particularly useful in connection with outsoles which are so thick or heavy that difficulty would be experienced in molding or bending them. As herein exemplified, the desired marginal concavity is formed in an outsole 200 by a grooving, gouging or channeling operation which may conveniently be performed by a machine such as that shown in Fig. 11, the machine comprising a gouging or channeling knife let, cooperating upper and lower Work supporting and feeding rolls H32 and HM, and an edge gage roll i955 which may also be driven to assist in feeding the sole. A machine of this general type but employing a sole-fitting knife of a somewhat different form is disclosed in United States Letters Patent No. 1,004,614, granted October 3, 1911, on application of H. W. Winter. As a result of the gouging or channeling operation just referred to, there will be formed in the margin at the attaching side of the outsole a transverse concavity lit similar to that formed by bending or molding the sole margin without, however, altering in any way the transverse curvature at the tread side of the sole margin and without changing the angle of the transverse elements of the edge face of the sole.

In accordance with my alternative method, after the marginal portion of .an outsole has been gouged, as already described, the gouged or recessed surface is prepared for the reception of cement by a roughing operation, the latter being illustrated in Fig. 12 wherein the outsole 290 is shown as being acted upon by a rotary roughing tool M2, the sole having its marginal portion advanced progressively past the tool by the cooperative action of the tool itself and a feed roll H4 to engage the lower surface of the sole. A machine adapted to form such a roughing operation is disclosed, for example, in an application, Serial No. 594,069, filed February 19, 1932, in the name of C. G. Brostrom.

After being roughened as described the recessed surface of the outsole is coated with cement which is allowed to dry and later is activated by means of a solvent. Both the application of the cement and the later application of the solvent may be accomplished by the use of machines similar to that conventionally illustrated in Fig. 8. The cement upon the outsole having been softened or activated and, if desired, the cement upon the bottom of the shoe having been likewise softened or activated, the outsole and the shoe are ready for assembly in a cement sole-attaching machine of the type hereinbefore referred to wherein the outsole and the shoe, after having been first relatively positioned, are forced together under heavy pressure.

Inasmuch as there is no outward flare to the edge of an outsole prepared by the abovedescribed grooving of its margin, it is unnecessary to perform any edge trimming operation either before or after attachment of the sole. The sole edge, however. will have the usual finishing operations, such as edge staining and edge setting or burnishing, performed thereon before the sole is attached to the shoe, these operations being performed, for example, as already described in connection with the preparation of the outsole 253.

If the shoe to which the outsole is to be attached is made upon a last having a substantially flat bottom in its forepart the marginal portion of the outsole will fit closely against the upper without any substantial amount of upward bending or distortion in the sole-attaching press. If, however, there is any substantial amount of transverse convexity in the bottom of the forepart of the shoe to which the outsole is to be attached the marginal portion of the outsole will be spaced away from the corresponding marginal portion of the shoe bottom after the outsole and the shoe have been assembled in the sole-attaching press as shown in Fig. 14, but the pressure applied in the act of attaching the outsole to the shoe will bend or reshape the sole margin sufiiciently to conform it to the transverse contour of the shoe bottom, as clearly illustrated in Fig. 15. Such conforming of the outsole margin, however, would result in causing the transverse elements of the sole edge to have an objectionable outward slope in the finished shoe. To avoid this result, for the purposes of the present invention, provision is made for effecting a slight bevel of the sole edge as a pre-fitting operation, such beveling being shown at lit in Figs. 13 and 14. This beveling of the unattached outsole may advantageously be effected during the operation of setting the edge of the sole by the simple expedient of presenting the sole to the edge setting tool at the appropriate slight angle to the perpendicular. From a comparison of Figs. 14 and 15 it will be apparent that the slight beveling H6 of the sole edge will allow for the upward molding or bending of the sole margin in the act of conforming it to the shoe bottom in the attaching machine so that after attachment of the sole the transverse elements of the sole edge instead of having any objectionable inclination will be vertically disposed when the shoe occupies a normal upright position, as clearly shown in Fig. 15.

In addition to the finishing operations hereinbefore referred to as having been performed upon the edge of the outsole we, the narrow marginal portion H8 of the attaching face which is located outside of the groove H0 may be subjected to a wheeling, indenting or stitch-imitating operation such as that illustrated by Fig. 13 whereby the marginal portion H3 may be ornamented or finished as indicated at I29. Conveniently, this wheeling or indenting operation may be performed by means of a toothed indenting tool such, for example, as that shown at I22 in Fig. 13. This manner of indenting or finishing the marginal portion of the attaching face of the outsole is particularly advantageous in connection with outsoles, the edges of which are to fit close to the uppers without any substantial amount of sole edge projection, as in the case of the shoes illustrated herein, inasmuch as satisfactory finishing operations upon such portions of a sole margin could not be performed after attachment of the soles to the shoes because of the risk of injury to the adjacent portions of the uppers by the action of the finishing tool.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. That improvement in methods of making pre-edge-finished outsoles which consists in forming in the attaching side of an outsole which has been shaped substantially to final edge contour a transversely-concave peripherally-extending surface for engaging the transversely-convex marginal surface of the bottom of a shoe to which the outsole is to be attached, beveling the previously shaped edge of the outsole, and thereafter but before the outsole is attached to a shoe performing a finishing operation upon the beveled edge.

2. That improvement in methods of making 1 3. That improvement in methods of making pre-finished outsoles which consists in bending the marginal portion of an outsole toward the side ultimately to be attached to a shoe, thereby forming in the attaching side of the sole a transversely-concave peripherally-extending surface for engaging the transversely-convex marginal surface of the shoe bottom and causing the sole edge to flare outwardly from the attaching side of the sole, and relieving the outward flare of the sole edge.

4. That improvement in methods of makin pre-fitted outsoles which consists in bending the marginal portion of the outsole toward the side ultimately to be attached to a shoe, and beveling the edge of the bent portion of the outsole to make it approximately perpendicular to the tread face of the outsole.

5. That improvement in methods of makin pre-finished outsoles which consists in forming in the attaching side of an outsole a peripherallyextending surface having a transverse curvature somewhat more pronounced than that of the marginal portion of the bottom of a shoe to which the outsole is to be attached, and beveling the edge of the outsole at such an angle, allowing for distortion of the outsole as a result of its attachment to the shoe, as to insure that the transverse elements of the sole edge will be vertical y disposed in the finished shoe when the shoe occupies its normal upright position.

6. That improvement in methods of making pre-finished outsoles which consists in overmolding the marginal portion of an outsole toward the side ultimately to be attached to a shoe and thereby forming in the attaching side of the outsole a transversely-concave peripherally-extending surface the transverse curvature of which is more pronounced than that of the marginal portion of the bottom of a shoe to which the outsole is to be attached, and beveling the edge of the outsole at such an angle, allowing for distortion of the sole margin resulting from attachment of the sole to the shoe, as to insure that the transverse elements of the sole edge will be vertically disposed when the shoe is in its normal upright position.

'7. That improvement in methods of making pre-fitted outsoles which consists in progressively bending the marginal portion of an outsole toward the side ultimately to be attached to a shoe and thereby producing a flaring edge face, trimming the outsole to relieve the fiare of its edge face, and thereafter staining and setting the trimmed edge face.

8. That improvement in methods of making pre-fitted outsoles which consists in bending the marginal portion of the outsole toward the side ultimately to be attached to a shoe, and simultaneously trimming and chamfering the outsole to provide a substantially square edge face and an adjacent chamfered marginal surface.

9. That improvement in methods of making pre-finished outsoles which consists in grooving the marginal portion of an outsole at the side ultimately to be attached to a shoe to form therein a peripherally extending cavity complemental to the transverse convexity of the outer marginal portion of the overlasted upper of the shoe, and thereafter, and while the sole is still unattached, making the edge face of the sole oblique to the tread face thereof by means of an edge setting operation.

10. That improvement in methods of making pre-finished outsoles which consists in grooving the attaching side of an outsole and thereby forming therein a marginal channel spaced from the edge of the outsole for receiving the overlasted upper of a shoe and thereby providing in said attaching side of the sole outside of said channel a narrow unchanneled surface adapted to project beyond the upper in a finished shoe, roughing the surface formed by said grooving operation, and subsequently, but before the outsole is attached, indenting said narrow surface, and beveling the edge of the outsole.

11. That improvement in methods of making shoes of the type having an outsole attached by cement to the overlasted margins of an upper which comprises beveling the edge of an outsole and bending its marginal portion toward the side which is to be attached to a shoe, the angle of bevel being such that after the marginal portion of the outsole has been bent the outsole edge will be substantially vertical when the shoe is in a normal upright position, and relatively locating the outsole and a shoe by gaging from the beveled edge of the outsole.

12. That improvement in methods of making shoes having outsoles the edges of which fit close to the uppers which consists in bending a marginal portion of an outsole toward the side which is ultimately to be attached to a shoe, trimming said marginal portion of the outsole after it has been bent to relieve the outward flare of its edge produced by the bending operation, and locating the outsole relatively to a shoe by gaging from the trimmed edge of the bent marginal poition of the outsole.

13. That improvement in methods of relatively positioning shoes and outsoles which consists in preliminarily bending the marginal portion of an outsole to raise the edge of said portion above an adjacent surface of the outsole, placing said outsole with its raised edge uppermost upon a support in the path of a movable feeler, moving said feeler over the surface of said support into engagement with the edge of said bent marginal portion thereby oifsetting any tendency of said feeler to override the upper surface of the out sole, and subsequently utilizing said feeler in locating a shoe in assembled relation to said outsole.

14. That improvement in methods of making shoes having cement-attached outsoles the edges of which fit close to the uppers which consists in overmolding the marginal portion of an outsole to which a coating of cement has been applied and allowed to dry, thereby curving said marginal portion transversely toward the cemented side of the outsole to an extent more than suflicient to insure contact of the edge of the outsole with the upper of a shoe to which the outsole is to be attached and causing the edge face of the outsole to flare outwardly from said side, trimming said curved marginal portion to relieve the outward flare of its edge face, softening the ocment, locating the outsole relatively to a shoe by gaging from said trimmed edge, and moving the shoe and the outsole toward each other and pressing them together thereby causing the marginal portion of the outsole to engage the shoe bottom along a line moving progressively inward from the extreme edge of the outsole to insure against squeezing of the cement outwardly across the sole edge.

15. As an article of manufacture, an outsole having its marginal portion abruptly bent toward the side of the sole which is ultimately to be attached to a shoe and having a pre-finished edge face disposed in a plane substantially at right angles to the outsole surfaces bounded by said bent marginal portion.

16. As an article of manufacture, an outsole having its marginal portion bent toward the side of the sole which is to be attached to a shoe and having an edge face disposed in a plane approxi mately perpendicular to the outsole surfaces bounded by said bent marginal portion.

1'7. As an article of manufacture, a pretrimmed outsole having its marginal portion bent toward the side ultimately to be attached to a shoe and having a narrow chamfered face adjacent to the attaching surface of the sole.

18. As an article of manufacture, an unattached outsole having its marginal portion abruptly bent toward its attaching side and in-- dented adjacent to its edge face, and having its edge face pre-finished and disposed in a plane substantially perpendicular to the surfaces of the unbent portion of the outsole.

19. As an article of manufacture, an unattached outsole having the marginal portion of its attaching surface concave in a direction transverse to the sole edge for conforming engagement with the transverse convexity of the marginal portion of the bottom of a shoe to which the outsole is to be attached, and having its edge beveled to allow for a change in the angular disposition of the transverse elements of the sole edge resulting from bending of the sole in the operation of attaching the sole to the shoe.

CHESTER D. TURNER. 

